One-Minute Play FestivalThe American Theatre's National Social Barometer Project 2016-04-16T01:05:49Zhttp://www.oneminuteplayfestival.com/feed/atom/WordPresshttp://www.oneminuteplayfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/cropped-ompf-logo-2-32x32.jpgDominic D'Andreahttp://www.oneminuteplayfestival.com/?p=3472016-04-16T01:05:49Z2016-04-16T01:00:58ZRead more]]>Continuing with the 2016 1MPF Season!

Every 28 Hours is a reference to a widely shared statistic: every 28 hours in America, a black person is killed by the police.

The One-Minute Play Festival (Dominic D’Andrea, Producing Artistic Director), and Oregon Shakespeare Festival (Claudia Alick, Producer) have teamed up to create a dynamic partnership in Every 28 Hours: a national partnership with a locally specific focus on the events of Ferguson, Mo.

The project that will start with a gathering of artists from around the country, nominated by their respective participating theatre companies in St. Louis from Oct 18-25, engaging with the Ferguson community, citizens, activists, and organizations to have dialogue, understanding, and story telling in relationship to the events that happened last year.

We well generate a body of one-minute plays, using the specific 1MPF playmaking methodology, will cast/rehearse/perform as a rapid response to what we’ve learned, heard, and experienced on Oct 25th. The plays will be performed at a central location in St. Louis, and possibly within the Ferguson community as well (if we are granted proper access to do so.)

Starting a year later in October 2016, we will make the body of plays available for participating theatre companies who’ve sent participants, and other national partners who have opted to participate for free. The aim is to inspire our partnering theatres to hold a specific day or week of events in staging these plays from Oct 26th– October 30th 2015.

These local/national stagings could be within the walls of the theatres, out in the community, using professional actors, community members, or a combination of both. There may also be talkbacks, dialogues sessions, or consensus building exercises in relationship to these plays. It can take different forms, so long as the goal is to promote dialogue, understanding, and engagement in these important topics of race and identity.

Many of the performances of these plays will be livestreamed via our partners at HowlRound.TV

What We Are Asking For:

We are looking to recruit theatre companies from around the nation to partner with us on the ground in Saint Louis on Oct 18-25.

Specifically, we are looking for national theatre to nominate an artist or artists (preferably a playwright) from within your ranks, and send them to Saint Louis.

We aim for a company of 20-30 artists in total (with an emphasis on playwrights, though all are welcome to come and collaborate.)

How We Are Doing This:

Theatres who are willing to participate must engage in a national Indiegogo campaign.

The indiegogo page will be live in early July.

Theatres who are nominating artists will be responsible for the cost of the flight, per diem, and hotel accommodations (much like sending someone to the TCG conference.)

We are asking that theatres participate in the fundraising platform, to help cover the cost of sending the artist, and accommodations.

1MPF & OSF are putting the final touches to secure a central hotel for the week, so all attending artists will be in one place, at one time together.

Once everyone is nominated, funded, and arrives in St. Louis, we’ll be forming a mini national theatre team/company to work together for the week!

Why We are Doing this:

-To come together as a community of artists to investigate topics which impact our lives, the climate of our community, and the future of our nation.

-To have the opportunity to cross-pollinate, collaborate, and celebrate the spirit of radical inclusion in deep and meaningful ways.

-To engage with the Saint Louis and Ferguson populations impacted by the recent events. To make the connections to our own communities. To hear/see/learn what is offered, and what this might say about who we are, our relationships to one other, to our communities, to our activism, to our work, and to our humanity.

-To create a chorus of voices, which echo even bigger ideas. To honor what has happened. To be heard, seen, felt, understood, and considered.

“I’m still in awe that 1MPF has grown to the size and scope that it has”, says 1MPF Founder & Producing Artistic Director, Dominic D’Andrea. “We started nine years ago in a tiny theatre in Brooklyn as a fun artistic challenge for our community. Since then we’ve grown into a full company, which focuses on investigating the zeitgeist of different local communities by looking at emerging connections, themes, ideas, styles, and trends that bubble up to the surface. We perform a community mind map, through a series of 70-90 pulses of storytelling.”

D’Andrea attributes a lot of 1MPF’s growth to their unique methodology. “There’s really nothing like 1MPF. We are half play festival, half community-engaged convening. In addition to the festival itself, we offer town hall meetings, consensus, community-building, and dialogue sessions, and special events to help shape this work as a community action. This work is a chance for local participants, audiences, and stakeholders to dig into questions like: who are we? What is our relationship to each other; to our community; to our work? I think the fact that we have such a focus on local narratives is part of the reason our programming demand has exploded on a national platform.”

For each festival, 1MPF invites local writers and community members into their unique playmaking process. Writers are asked to consider the world around them, their cities, their communities and the ways in which they view the world, before writing topical moments that say something about the world as it is in the here and now. Local directors, actors, and community members are tapped to stage and shape these moments (70-90 on average) with a unique local flavor. D’Andrea travels to and leads the process, before presenting the festival to local audiences, who are eager to experience what themes and ideas come up in the work.

The 2014/15 One-Minute Play Festival Season

Previously Announced:

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November

Nov 22nd & 23rd:

The 3rd Annual One-Minute Play Festival of Latina/o Voices

In Partnership with INTAR Theatre

INTAR (International Arts Relations, Inc.) is an organization committed to the development of “theater arts without borders.” Over the past four decades, INTAR has produced classics, Latino adaptations of classics, cabarets, and 70 world premiers of plays written by Latino-Americans, including 2005 Oscar nominee Jose Rivera and Pulitzer Prize recipient Nilo Cruz.

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December

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Dec 15th & 16th:

The 5th Annual San Francisco One-Minute Play Festival

In Partnership with Playwrights Foundation

At Brava Theatre

Playwrights Foundation is dedicated to discovering and supporting local and national American playwrights across a broad spectrum of artistic and career positions, in the inception and development of new plays that speak to and from an increasingly diverse society.

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January

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Jan 3rd,4th, 5th, & 6th:

The 4th Annual Boston One-Minute Play Festival

In Partnership with Boston Playwright’s Theatre & Boston Public Works

At Boston Playwright’s Theatre

Boston Public Works Theater Company (www.bostonpublicworks.org) is a company of playwrights who, in true entrepreneurial fashion, have banded together to take control of their artistic lives and circumvent the traditional route to production by producing their own plays.

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Jan 17th & 18th:

The 3rd Annual South Florida One-Minute Play Festival

In Partnership with The Deering Estate at Cutler

To raise public awareness, outreach, understanding and the enjoyment of the Deering Estate at Cutler and to raise funds to support education, research, exhibits and collections, natural conservation and historical restoration and preservation.

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Upcoming:

February

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Sat Jan 31st & Sun Feb 1st

The 2nd Annual George Sand Invitational One-Minute Play Festival

In Partnership with New Georges & Women’s Project

At City Center Stage II

New works at New Georges use imaginative scope, heightened language or theatricality, design innovation and an irreverent or refracted approach to storytelling to give form to experience and amplify the world. They are created in an artist-driven, flexible production environment, which allows unusual plays to emerge with clarity and heart.

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Feb 17th & 18th:

The 1st New York City Independent Theatre One-Minute play Festival

In Partnership with New Ohio Theatre

NEW OHIO THEATRE is a two-time OBIE Award-winning presenting venue that serves Manhattan’s most adventurous theatre audiences by developing and presenting the boldest, most innovative work of today’s vast independent theatre community.

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April

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April 12th, 13th, & 14th:

The 2nd Annual Alaska One-Minute Play Festival

In Partnership with Perseverance Theatre

At The Anchorage Performing Arts Center

Perseverance Theatre’s mission is to create professional theatre by and for Alaskans. We value community engagement, professional rigor, and regional voice.

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April 27th, 28th, & 29th:

The 5th Annual Chicago One-Minute Play Festival

In Partnership with The Den Theatre

Dedicated to providing a home for Chicago’s theatre artists since 2010, the Den Theatre with its bar, lounge and studios creates a safe haven where artists can relax, be inspired and create amazing theatre.

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May

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May 2nd, 3rd, & 4th:

The 5th Annual New Jersey One-Minute Play Festival

In Partnership with Luna Stage

For over two decades, Luna Stage has produced thought-provoking theatre that gives voice to emerging American playwrights and re-examines contemporary and classic plays that speak to our times.

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May 23rd, 24th, & 25th:

The 1st Hawaii One-Minute Play Festival

In Partnership with Honolulu Theatre For Youth &

Honolulu Theatre for Youth and Kumu Kahua Theatre are two Honolulu based theatre companies dedicated to the creation of new work. Collectively they have over 100 years experience creating work that reflects the unique culture and geography of Hawai’i. Both companies almost exclusively produce original writing and share a commitment to developing local writers and theatrical artists that reflect the multiplicity of cultures in our community.

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TBA May Dates:

The First National Asian American One-Minute Play Festival

In Partnership with Second Stage Uptown & Second Generation Productions

Founded in 1997, Second Generation is a non-profit theater company dedicated to: Creating contemporary, world-class Asian American theater that reaches across cultural, generational and racial boundaries, Cultivating the next generation of Asian American dramatic arts, by identifying and nurturing a vibrant community of actors, directors and writers from the established and emerging to the early-career and pre-professional; and Connecting with new and underserved audiences, especially young Asian Americans and other groups historically underrepresented in mainstream American theater, towards the establishment of a vital and effective platform for Asian American voices to be heard on the world’s stage.

Second Stage Theatre produces an adventurous range of premieres, musicals, bold new interpretations of contemporary plays, and unique theatrical experiences from America’s most dynamic writers of the 21st century. Through the discovery of emerging talent, the commissioning of new work, and the creation of a training base for directors, Second Stage reflects the diverse city and the world we live in today and reaches an ever-growing audience through its Broadway runs, national tours and regional productions.

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June

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June 8th, 9th, & 10th:

The 4th Annual Atlanta One-Minute Play Festival

In Partnership with Actor’s Express

Actor’s Express is a theatre that challenges and reflects contemporary human experiences in an inclusive environment. We seek to jumpstart individual transformations through the shared adventure of our live performances, which range from daringly provocative to audaciously hilarious.

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June 21st & 22nd:

The 3rd Annual Minneapolis One-Minute Play Festival

In Partnership with Walking Shadow Theatre Company

At The Southern Theatre

Walking Shadow believes the human soul is a disturbing and beautiful place. We create engaging and memorable experiences that promote an exchange of ideas inspired by the stories we tell.

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June 28th & 29th:

Special Topics: Gentrification in San Francisco: A Look at A City In Transition

In Partnership with Z Space

Z Space is a hub for artists and audiences to revel in the creation, development, and production of outstanding new work. We commission, develop, present and produce a full season of new works from a variety of disciplines including theater, dance, music, performance art, and new media. We foster opportunities around the nation for these works and we engage diverse audiences through direct interactions with the process, the projects, and the artists.

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July

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July 10th, 11th, & 12th:

The 1st Cincinnati One-Minute Play Festival

In Partnership With Know Theatre

Know Theatre is Cincinnati’s Alternative Theatrical Playground. The Know focuses on unexpected voices, new works, and plays that embrace the inherent theatricality of the live experience.

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July 28th & 29th

The 2nd Annual Washington, D.C. One-Minute Play Festival

In Partnership with Round House Theatre

One of the largest and most acclaimed professional theater companies in the Washington, DC metro area, Round House Theatre is led by Producing Artistic Director Ryan Rilette. Based in Montgomery County, Maryland, Round House produces a dynamic lineup of performances each season at its 400-seat theater in downtown Bethesda.

It is the mission of Kitchen Dog Theater to provide a place where questions of justice, morality, and human freedom can be explored. We choose plays that challenge our moral and social consciences, and invite our audiences to be provoked, challenged, and amazed.

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Aug 16th, 17th, & 18th:

The 2nd Annual Austin One-Minute Play Festival

In Partnership with ScriptWorks

At The Ground Floor Theatre

Ground Floor Theatre’s 140 seat black box is located in Austin burgeoning East Side and produces new works by and for under-presented communities.

ScriptWorks exists to support dramatic writers by providing opportunities at all stages in the writing process—from inception through production. ScriptWorks supports the whole writer, not just isolated projects, and dedicates itself to career advancement as well as artistic growth.

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September-November 2014

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Every 28 Hours: Special Topics: An Investigation of The Events in The Ferguson Community & Black Lives In America

In Partnership with Oregon Shakespeare Festival

Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Inspired by Shakespeare’s work and the cultural richness of the United States, we reveal our collective humanity through illuminating interpretations of new and classic plays, deepened by the kaleidoscope of rotating repertory.

ScriptWorks (formerly Austin Script Works) is a playwright-driven organization that seeks to promote the craft of dramatic writing and protect the writer’s integrity by encouraging playwright initiative and harnessing collective potential. ScriptWorks is funded and supported in part by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts and the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division believing an investment in the Arts is an investment in Austin’s future. Visit Austin at NowPlayingAustin.com. Find ScriptWorks on the web at www.scriptworks.org

Now in its 24th season, Kitchen Dog Theater has remained dedicated to producing theater that provokes, challenges, and amazes our audiences, with plays ranging from the classics to world premieres. KDT was formed in 1990 by five graduates of the MFA Theatre Program at Southern Methodist University. The co-founders’ decision to remain in Dallas and form an ensemble theater company represented their commitment to enhancing and broadening the artistic canvas of the Dallas community. In an effort to nurture the rich talent pool in Dallas, Kitchen Dog maintains a resident company of 40 area artists, including actors, directors, designers, stage managers and playwrights, who are regularly employed each season at Kitchen Dog. A staunch advocate of new work, KDT is a founding member of the National New Play Network (NNPN), an alliance of 29 professional theaters nationally recognized for championing new work and creating leading-edge new play programs, and remains the region’s sole NNPN member theater. KDT is the resident theater company at the McKinney Avenue Contemporary (The MAC) and has become a mainstay in the vibrant Uptown arts and nightlife scene. Over the years, KDT has staged over 100 productions and received over 200 awards from various publications, DFW Critics’ Forum, and the Dallas Theater League. For more information on KDT, visit www.kitchendogtheater.org or contact 214-953-1055.

Kitchen Dog Theater is supported, in part, by the City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs, The National Endowment for the Arts, TACA, Texas Commission on the Arts, The Shubert Foundation and individual donors.

InterAct is a theatre for today’s world, dedicated to commissioning, developing and producing new and contemporary plays that explore the social, political and cultural issues of our time. Currently celebrating its 25th Anniversary season, InterAct is the Philadelphia region’s leading producer of new plays.

Actor’s Express is a theatre that challenges and reflects contemporary human experiences in an inclusive environment. We seek to jumpstart individual transformations through the shared adventure of our live performances, which range from daringly provocative to audaciously hilarious.

Actor’s Express constantly develops new talent, pushes boundaries and encourages people to question their place in the world. Our work creates emotional connections between audience and artist, catalyzing discussion on the complex issues of the contemporary human experience. We stay one step ahead of the conversation – our audiences expect to be challenged when they attend our programming.

We firmly believe the relevance and vitality of the American theatre depends upon a continual infusion of new work and the nurturing of new playwrights. Playwrights are the chroniclers, critics and prophets of our times. They offer stories about the way we live, love, and sacrifice, and provide new insights into our shared humanity. Actor’s Express is committed to championing the emerging voices of the American stage.

Our primary goals are four-fold: to nurture the next generation of playwrights through workshops, readings, and full productions of new plays; to develop and nurture Atlanta’s artistic community through rigorous theatre training; to catalyze the dialogue essential to the vitality of our neighborhood and our city; and to enhance Atlanta’s reputation nationally as a thriving center for live performance.

After three previous years of sold out performances, Victory Gardens Theater will again partner with the NY-based company, The One-Minute Play Festival to bring The Fourth Annual Chicago One-Minute Play Festival (#1MPF) back to the Biograph Theatre. One half of the proceeds from which will benefit VG’s community-based programming.

One-minute plays by nearly 60 established and emerging Chicago playwrights were commissioned for this special annual event, and developed with #1MPF’s playmaking process.